Kingsman 2: Elton John Confirms Role With Poster

Filming is currently getting underway for Kingsman: The Golden Circle, the follow-up to 2015’s surprise hit, Kingsman: The Secret Service. Buoyed by that film’s wildly positive reception (not to mention a box office haul of $400 million worldwide), Matthew Vaughn was handed the reins for the sequel, which he’ll again direct from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jane Goldman.

For this film, Eggsy (Taron Egerton), now a full-fledged Kingsman agent, will partner with Merlin (Mark Strong) for a mission that takes them to the U.S., where they’ll work alongside America’s own secret spy organization, Statesman. Halle Berry is playing Stateman agent, Ginger, likely serving as Eggsy and Merlin’s U.S. contact and Pedro Pascal (Narcos) is in talks to join her, while Julianne Moore is stepping into the role of the film’s main villain. Channing Tatum is also involved and though his role remains a mystery, he sure looks smart in a dapper suit and hat.

Also rumored as having a role in Kingsman: The Golden Circle is world-famous musician Elton John, and given the poster he shared via Instagram today, his involvement seems confirmed:

A photo posted by Elton John (@eltonjohn) on May 16, 2016 at 1:24pm PDT

This latest poster is similar in design to earlier teaser posters, one which alluded to a return (from the dead?) of Colin Firth’s Harry Hart and the other introducing Tatum’s “Southerner.” Here we have pair of signature Elton specs and a quote that is a play on one of his songs, “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting”. No idea why the day is changed to Wednesday, but otherwise the poster doesn’t offer much beyond confirming John’s involvement, not even a hint at the size of the role. As for the singer’s comment? This marks his first film gig since 1975’s Tommy, 41 years ago! That’s quite an acting hiatus.

With principal photography just getting started on Kingsman: The Golden Circle, chances are this won’t the be the last poster to use this design. And it’s been a neat way of teasing of who’s in the film – which with the addition of someone like Sir Elton John, is shaping up to be a stellar sequel. Even if his role isn’t much more than a glorified cameo, it’ll surely still be quite memorable. Kingsman: The Secret Service made exceptional use of its cast, after all, no matter the size of the role, from Mark Hamill’s kidnapped professor to Samuel L. Jackson’s eccentric Richmond Valentine.